


Got Your Back

by queen_scribbles



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Battle Couple, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22830391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Belsavis is such a welcoming planet.
Relationships: Aric Jorgan/Female Republic Trooper
Kudos: 5





	Got Your Back

Danger was to be expected.

It was a basic point of Republic military training, doubly so for SpecForce. Danger was normal. You should expect it, meet it head on, but not _rashly_ , and worry about the unit and the mission before the individual.

Kementari Rand had apparently missed the day they reviewed the back half of that mandate. As evidenced by her wild yell as she flung herself across ten meters of uneven terrain to distract the Gamorrean menacing her XO.

Jorgan had been _aware_ of the threat, of course. He had enough combat experience for _that._ He’d just gambled he could get off the shot he was lining up _before_ the hulking Gamorrean reached him. His rifle spat an orange laser bolt half a second before the thug’s fist slammed into the side of his face and sent him sprawling.

Even as he struggled to shake out the stars behind his eyes, Rand was between him and the Gamorrean, whipping the butt of her rifle into the thug’s face. He gave a squealing grunt as he stumbled back, but recovered quickly. Rand ducked the backhand aimed at her head and slapped one hand against his chest, leaving behind something white and malleable the thug ignored to swing at her with his war axe.

She dodged the first swipe, but over-committed on her retaliation. Even as she slashed open the Gamorrean’s gut with her vibroshiv, he backhanded her hard across the face. As she spun from the force of the blow, a second swing of his axe opened a deep gash up her back.

Rand yelped in pain and stumbled to her knees in the same moment Jorgan staggered back to his feet. Still rubbing his jaw with one hand, he yanked out his blaster with the other and shot the plastique she’d jammed against the Gamorrean’s chest. The explosion sent the Gamorrean reeling and took a chunk out of his shoulder slightly larger than Jorgan’s fist. Jorgan tightened his grip on his blaster and shot the thug--twice, nearly point blank--in the face. Once assured the threat was neutralized, he turned to offer Rand a hand up.

She took it, wincing even as she dryly commented, “Belsavis is such a _welcoming_ place, isn’t it?”

“It’s the height of hospitality,” Jorgan deadpanned as he hauled her to her feet. He scowled at the ugly gash and amount of blood soaking through around it. “Come on, I need to patch that up before you bleed out.”

He wasn’t nearly as good as Dorne, of course; this wasn’t his forte, but he’d gotten plenty of practice with the basics since they left Ord Mantell. Rand followed as he tugged her toward one of the wide tree roots spread out nearby. She hissed with the pain of moving and his heart beat faster. Risk came with the job, but she’d almost gotten herself killed this time and for what?

He nudged her down. “Sit.”

“Thought- _ah!_ -Thought I was the boss,” she joked, even as pain tightened her jaw and she sat to start unbuckling her armor.

“Only when you’re not bleeding to death,” Jorgan growled. “Now hold still.”

The gash ran from near her hip up halfway to her shoulder blade, putting it in a very awkward spot to reach. He glared at it as he helped her work off her armor and pull up her shirt. A handful of centimeters to the left...

“You’re lucky he didn’t catch your spine,” he said gruffly, giving up on finding a comfortable position and settling in behind her, legs spread so she was between them.

Rand snorted. “Yeah, feelin’ real lucky right now.” Despite her flippancy, there was a ragged edge to the words. It made something in his chest clench.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he demanded, her sharp flinch as his fingers brushed the edge of the wound putting extra fire in his voice.

“I was _thinking_ I didn’t want my XO getting his damn skull caved in by a Gamorrean with anger issues!” she snapped back.

Jorgan bristled, had to take a breath to steady his hands before he pressed the kolto injector to her shoulder. “Oh, better he cut you in half?”

“Better he does _neither_ ,” she said heatedly, hands curling into fists. Whether to outlast the pain or because she wanted to slug him, Jorgan wasn’t sure. He should be thanking her for saving his damn life, not chewing her--his _commanding officer_ \--out for almost getting killed. 

But it was like he couldn’t stop himself. “There are better ways to achieve that than flinging yourself--”

“Flinging myself into danger is what I _**do**_ ,” Rand cut him off, hissing at the momentary sting of shifting wrong. “Always has been, not sure why you’d think I’m gonna _stop_.”

Jorgan dug for the field cauterizer, watched some of the tenseness drain from her as the kolto kicked in, and swabbed away blood with one of the sterile pads. “I’m not saying you should _stop_ ,” he snapped, flicking on the cauterizer with an angry swipe of his thumb. “Just advising a little caution find its way into the process.”

“I _can’t,_ ” she said earnestly, leaning forward so he could better see what he was doing.

“Why not?” he shot back. He’d never figured her for one to get hooked on the rush of combat, but clearly-

She muttered something, and he paused just before the cauterizer met the wound.

“What?”

“I just got you back,” she repeated, louder but not angry. Firm. Her head tilted to the side, gaze and hand drifting toward the still-shiny metal of the cybernetics that had replaced his lower left leg after the Gauntlet mission. She curled her fingers back before making contact, however, gaze shifting to fix on something in the distance. “I won’t lose you again.”

He was, for once in his life, tongue-tied. “Major-”

“ _I **won’t** ,_” she repeated. The words were sheathed in durasteel and brooked no argument.

Not that Jorgan was intending to argue; he didn’t plan on going anywhere, and was far happier with the Havoc assignment--with _ **her**_ \--than he’d ever thought possible. But he couldn’t think of _any_ reply, and so silence fell over them as he set to work closing up the wound. Rand was, as always, a model patient; holding perfectly still in her hunched forward position while he worked. She flinched a little once or twice, and he paused until she relaxed each time.

“You know,” he began as the last of the wound sealed up and he set aside the cauterizer to reach for bacta patches, “this is not what I had in mind when I said I wanted to do more than peek.”

Rand’s shoulders shook with her quiet laugh. “That’s a relief. Always good to know your second in command’s not wishing harm on you.”

Jorgan snorted a half laugh of his own, smoothing the patches against her back. It took three to cover the length of the gash and he frowned as he ran his thumb around the edges of the last one. “Exactly the opposite, actually. I’m thinking you should probably spend an hour or two in a kolto tank next time you get a chance.” He let his hand linger once the patch was secure. “I don’t want to lose you, either.”

She pulled in a breath that shook but made no reply. In the heavily expectant silence that followed, he let his gaze drift off the wound he’d been dressing and on to the other scars that marked her back. Too precise to be anything but intentional, too numerous to be medical, they intermingled with the striped pattern of her fur as if to complete or mock it. He wondered if they were from the same source as the ones that hooked back from the corners of her mouth. But she didn’t like to talk about those, so he didn’t ask. His thumb ran along the edge of the bacta patches--to make sure they were secure, obviously--and just brushed the trailing end to one of those older scars.

Rand flinched at the touch and the moment broke.

“You’re, uh.” Jorgan cleared his throat and turned his focus to repacking the medkit. “That’s deep enough it’ll probably scar no matter what, but kolto would make it less severe.”

“Right. Thanks.” She pulled down her shirt and turned to face him. “Jorgan? I’m glad I’ve got you watchin’ my back.” A smirk curled her lips, but there was a lingering seriousness to it. “Literally, sometimes.”

“And I’m glad I’ve got you watching mine, boss,” he replied, looking up from the medkit to catch her staring at him, sincerity in her eyes. He met her gaze, let the moment draw out, then added, “Good COs are hard to find.”

Rand snorted and looked away to pull her armor back on. “Try finding a good XO sometime.” A sly grin in his direction. “I really lucked out.”

His heart skipped a beat, then pounded through five to make up for it. _Save it for the ship,_ Jorgan scolded himself. “Then that goes for both of us. Sir.”

She slid off the root and turned to offer him her hand, braced to help him stand as well. “Let’s hope that luck extends to finding Dagger Wing.”

He nodded, rubbed the back of his neck, and said the words he should’ve much earlier. “Major? Thanks for the save.”

Rand shrugged and winked at him. “I’ve got your back,” she said simply, and turned to head toward their next objective.

Jorgan let his gaze linger on the new hole in the back of her armor a moment before he fell in step behind her. _And I’ve got yours_ , he promised silently. He didn’t need to say the words.

She knew.

**Author's Note:**

> So I made a new Trooper, romanced Jorgan again, and was reminded how much I love the grumpy space cat husband. Behold FIC.


End file.
